The marketplace for portable computing devices has demanded increasing features, particularly relating to wireless communications. Wireless communication features provide convenience and accessibility to consumers, and improved productivity for businesses. Currently, many wireless standards are competing in the portable computing device market. Such standards include time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile (GSM) communication, general packet radio service (GPRS), IEEE 802.11, shared wireless access protocol (SWAP), infrared direct access (IrDA), Bluetooth, etc. Each of these systems have limitations and drawbacks including those related to providing communications to and from communications networks as well as providing peer-to-peer communications between mobile devices.
One known system is a wireless communication system using radio frequencies for transmitting and receiving voice, video, and data signals. This system includes an internal network having multiple internal communication paths and an external network communication path for linking the internal network to an external communications network. The internal network contains transceivers that allow for decentralized communication along multiple communication paths within the internal network. If the transceivers are out of range of a central call switching and delivery center, they can communicate via intermediate transceivers that relay the calls to the destination transceivers, eliminating the need for a central call switching and delivery center.
In such a system, the mobile devices having transceivers need to know whether they are communicating in an ad-hoc mode in which they are communicating between each other, or whether they are communicating with a communications network such that they should be operating in an infrastructure mode. Certain devices today may allow a communications device to be configured in either an ad-hoc mode or in an infrastructure mode but convenient switching between the two modes is not seen as seamless or simple. In certain devices, a manual switching or changing of a jumper may be required for the communications to be transitioned from one mode to the other.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved wireless communication system. Further, there is a need for a wireless communications system and method that provides simplified transitioning between wireless access modes. Further still, there is a need for a wireless communications system and method that provides simple ad-hoc networking as well as infrastructure networking. Yet further still, there is a need for a portable electronic device that may be automatically switched from an ad-hoc networking mode to a fixed access point mode upon the receipt of a specified request or upon a specified action.
It would be desirable to provide a system and/or method that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned needs.